Mamata skips meet with Modi, asks Centre to leave land issues to states

BURDWAN: When Prime Minister Narendra Modi was meeting chief ministers in New Delhi on the Land Bill on Wednesday, Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee was unveiling her 'model land policy' at Burdwan, about 100km from Kolkata, reiterating that hers did not involve any forcible acquisition.
Mamata asked the Centre to leave land matters to states. She skipped the PM's meeting on the Land Bill on the plea that she got the invitation only a week ago and her schedule for the day had been fixed long ago.The CM was celebrating her 100th take-the-government-to-the-districts meeting at Burdwan amid much fanfare. Some 700 people — including the entire cabinet, 500-odd government officials and scores of invited dignitaries — were ferried on luxury buses to the event where PowerPoint presentations replaced the familiar government files with red strings.
“We have a model land policy that doesn't have forcible land acquisition. It is very transparent. Our policy includes negotiation over land price, direct purchase of land by the investor at five times the market price and rehabilitation of the land loser. We have a state land bank, land use policy and a land map in place. Anyone can approach us for land. My government has given 14,000 acres from the land bank for setting industries and industrial parks.” Mamata said.
Taking a dig at the land acquisition in Singur during the Left regime, the CM said: "The land acquisition process hit a road block because the process was flawed. We need to take land owners into confidence. They have the right to property. They can agree to the land sale and also reserve the right to say no. We don't believe in forcible acquisition. This is a model for the country." It was the Singur controversy that gave Mamata the plank to challenge and eventually rout the Left Front.
The CM held that her land policy isn't coming in the way of setting up infrastructure. "There was a problem over the central project at Bagdogra in North Bengal. We have sorted out the problem. We broke the land impasse that NTPC was facing at Katwa. We gave 100 acres to NTPC at Katwa. No infrastructure project — irrigation, bridges, railway overbridge — should wait. There have been instances where the government has purchased land for setting up its own projects," Mamata argued.
The CM said she would continue with her land policy since rules under the central Land Act have not been framed yet. "We don't know when the rules will be in place. Development in the state can't wait till then. I believe the Centre should leave land matters to states," the CM said.
The CM then showcased how her government had given 14,000 acres from the state land bank for setting up industrial parks at Panagarh, Durgapur, Kharagpur, Kalyani and Siliguri. "Land was not a problem for these parks. Investors can now come to the government and seek relaxation under Section 14Y of the Land Reforms Act that has a ceiling on land holding. All they need is to submit their projects to the government," the CM said.
She clarified that her government won't purchase land for industry but will play the role of facilitator by providing land from the land bank — this is a slightly flexible stance from her stiff hands-off policy on the land question.
Mamata seized the opportunity to seek the Centre's help to set up setting up a dedicated business corridor on land routes leading to the borders that Bengal shares with Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. "This is an extension of the Centre's Look East Policy. We have taken up a Rs 2,000 crore project to upgrade infrastructure and promote trade and commerce in the border areas. We need the Centre's help in this regard," Mamata said.
Taking cue, chief secretary Sanjay Mitra said the Bengal government has taken up a Rs 2,000 crore project at Petrapole along the Bangladesh border to widen the national highway and build bridges to boost trade. "The government has identified areas such as Petrapole, Ghojadanga in south Bengal and Hilli, Panitanki, Changrabandha in North Bengal," the chief secretary said.